chriS cox
Facebook
“My coMMute
is My Most
productive
creative tiMe.
i’M not focusing
on anything,
but i still have
the energy of
intense focus.”
A mAth nerd who learned to pro-
gram computers early and loved
science fiction: “Yeah, I was that
kid,” Chris Cox offers as explana-
tion (by way of confession) of how
all roads inevitably led to his role
as Facebook’s product chief and
keeper-creator of the social net-
work’s culture of relentless innova-
tion. Yes, in some ways he hails
from central casting. But it was his
early studies of jazz piano and the
attendant dives into theory, pat-
terns, and abstraction that helped
Cox see the world through the lens
of cognitive mystery, not merely as
an engineering challenge. “Math
and music try to solve some of the
same problems,” he says. “I wanted
to learn more about how it all
worked in the brain.”
His quest took him to the leg-
endary Symbolic Systems program
at Stanford, and into post-graduate
work in the university’s natural
language processing group. “I
loved artificial intelligence—it
seemed like the craziest and most
expansive thing in the Stanford
course reader,” laughs Cox.
When Facebook came calling,
Cox passed at first. “I didn’t think
they were working on solving a
serious problem.” But after a series
of meetings, a picture emerged in
his mind. “I could see an unencum-
bered ability for people to commu-
nicate with each other,” he says. “I
saw it as a map—a modern form of
cartography, but of relationships
and people.” After Cox abandoned
Stanford for Facebook in 2005, his
inaugural assignment was to cre-
ate Facebook’s first “probabilistic
learning system,” which the rest of
us call “news feed.” The product,
despite the backlash, became the
foundation for every stage of Face-
book’s growth since. “I was build-
ing things that had to be felt to be
believed,” he says. “That’s how I
learned what iteration really is.”
Today, Cox manages all the
engineers and designers working
on Facebook, and as CEO Mark
Zuckerberg’s chief of staff for
product, he is singularly focused
on scaling both the site and the
philosophy behind it. All new
hires attend an orientation led by
Cox. It is not a pep talk. “I explain
three things,” he says. “The social
graph, the concept of [news] feed,
and Facebook as a platform that
can be brought anywhere.” Cox
believes it is a critical step in sur-
viving a culture that requires peo-
ple to lead with their imaginations,
bring forth unpopular ideas, and
learn through experimentation. “I
am constantly trying to find and
articulate something that every-
one can organize around—it’s
what most people call ‘vision,’ but
it’s really just a story line.”
Joining a story already in prog-
ress, Cox hopes, inspires some
courage. “The things that have
been the most successful here have
been shrouded in disbelief or con-
troversy.” He continues to focus
on cognitive mysteries, the inter-
section of digital life and what
real people are, need, and do. “We
are talking about a brand-new
form,” he says of social communi-
ties. “There is no common lan-
guage yet.” A perpetual student,
he looks to architecture, media
theorists, and cognitive science
for inspiration. “Anyplace,” he
says, “where a pattern language
has been created for talking about
building something as complex,
emotional, and intricate as a pub-
lic space.” —Ellen McGirt
ted SArAndoS
Netflix
Right now, somebody,
somewhere is enjoying
Shark Week on his iPad.
Animal porn wherever you
are, thanks to chief content
officer Ted Sarandos. He
has helped Netflix grow to
20,000-plus movies and TV
shows, available on more
than 400 devices. Sarandos
is betting big on the upcom-
ing Kevin Spacey–David
Fincher production, House
of Cards. Its debut will
stream on Netflix.
debrA SAndler
Mars
“When I was younger, I
thought, I’m not an artist,
I’m not creative,” says
Debra Sandler, chief con-
sumer officer of Mars. “But
I’ve discovered my creativ-
ity is that I can tell what
might move consumers.”
Since joining Mars in late
2009, Sandler has helped
push the candy company to
reimagine some of its most
iconic brands. M&M’s
Pretzel Chocolate Candies—
whose development
Sandler oversaw—have
helped boost M&M sales.
Earlier this year, the Con-
sumer Survey of Product
Innovation named them
product of the year.
kAti london
Area/Code (Zynga New York)
Game developer Kati London brings social gaming
into the real world. In
Macon, Georgia, residents
talk up strangers to promote
Macon Money, which can be
redeemed for cash or spent
at local businesses. In Biloxi,
Mississippi, middle schoolers are preparing for hurricane season with a court
game called Battlestorm.
“What has always interested me are all the ways
you can convert signals
from different parts of the
world into meaningful
messages in social systems,” London says. Her
work helped catch the eye
of the biggest social gamer
of them all: Zynga acquired
Area/Code last January.
